Trance

Time Out says

3 out of 5 stars

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Users say
(11)

3 out of 5 stars

Time Out says

3 out of 5 stars

That Danny Boyle directed a film amid preparations for last year’s mammoth Olympic opening ceremony is impressive enough; that it’s his sleekest outing yet is at least as brain-boggling as ‘Trance’ imagines itself to be. If Christopher Nolan had much feeling below the waist he could have cooked up this circuitous, psycho-sexy heist thriller, the engagingly silly plot mechanics of which are tricky to describe without giving the game away.

This much you can know: sharp-suited London auctioneer Simon (James McAvoy) is the inside man for art thief Franck (Vincent Cassel). When his planned double-cross during the theft of a prized Goya goes awry, Simon loses all memory of where he’s hidden the painting. Enter alluring hypnotherapist Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson), who may or may not know more than she’s letting on. Adapted from Joe Ahearne’s 2001 TV film, it’s essentially ‘Eternal Inception of the Spellbound Mind’, though its shallow mind games are strictly disconnected from the heart. Like a jigsaw puzzle of a priceless painting, the fun lies in putting it together, not contemplating the fractured final product.

Still, after ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and the stifling ‘127 Hours’, it’s a kick to see Boyle back in lickety-split genre mode. Reunited with screenwriter John Hodge, and with a game, sideburned McAvoy as a Ewan McGregor proxy, this is the kind of film he might have made in the ’90s, only flashing all the technical elan he’s gained since then. Due respect to McAvoy, but it’s cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle and his gorgeous, radioactive vision of our city that are the true stars here. It’s a different London celebration to the one Boyle directed last summer, but no less enticing

Promising first 15-20 minutes, but after that it descended into an incomprehensible shambles. The cimematography and music was good, but that's no substitute for the confused "plot" and poor script. I had no idea what was going on and I don't think the cast or crew did either! The gory violence and pointless nudity were just gratuitous and frankly exploitative. Don'w waste your money - go see Side Effects instead.

Went to see this cos expected good things of Danny Boyle after the Olympics etc but it was a bit of a waste of time really. If you want to see an intelligent psychological thriller go and see Side Effects. This just didnt add up.
Too many flashbacks used in the plot. Violent too.

Promising first 20 minutes, then nose-dived into an incomprehensible train-wreck of a film. No idea what the hell was going on, and I don't think the production team or the actors did either. Cinematography good, that's about the only positive you can take away.

Brilliant, absolutely loved this film. I'm not keen on McAvoy either, but he's bearable in this, thank goodness, and it's not the cinematographer that's the star of the film, it's Vincent Cassel being mean, moody and marvellous. I don't know how TO review could only manage 3 stars for Trance and give a real bummer like Arbitrage 4.

Brilliant, absolutely loved this film. I'm not keen on McAvoy either, but he's bearable in this, thank goodness, and it's not the cinematographer that's the star of the film, it's Vincent Cassel being mean, moody and marvellous. I don't know how TO review could only manage 3 stars for Trance and give a real bummer like Arbitrage 4.

The most amazing thing about this total nonsense of a film is how only Danny Boyle could get away with it. The plot is absolutely ludicrous, the acting in parts awkward and the entire film really IS one of the silliest I've seen in ages. To Boyle's credit here the pace is good and the music at times better than the film content itself. But it's a weak weak film and some scenes (especially the shaving scene towards the end) had me laughing out loud they were so stupid.